There was mixed news from British mobile phone operator Vodafone on Tuesday

It reported a 6.1 billion euro loss for the year to the end of March but at the same time forecast a jump in the amount of cash it will generate this financial year.

Chief Executive Vittorio Colao said earnings would grow by between 4 and 8 percent this year to 14-14.5 billion euros – analysts had forecast 13.8 billion euros – and it would generate about 5 billion euros of cash, up from 4.1 billion euros last year.

Reduced costs and slowing investment programmes on its networks in Europe and other markets mean the company will be able to pay higher dividends to its shareholders. Consequently the shares rose 3.8 percent.